


Chandrilan Nights

by plumrain



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A whole new world, Alternate Universe, Ben Solo - Freeform, Ben is 25, Chandrila, F/M, Fanfiction, Finn and Rey and Rose are best friends, Finn is a genie, Kylo Ren - Freeform, M/M, Poe and Ben are best friends, Prince Ben Solo, Rey Nobody, Rey and Rose are bffs, Rey is 19, Rey is a Scavenger, Reylo - Freeform, Star Wars - Freeform, The Force, reylo au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27232336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plumrain/pseuds/plumrain
Summary: Fed up with his royal duties and his constant fighting with his mother, Prince Ben Solo escapes the palace walls for the first time in years to walk among his people and to find out what is hiding behind the palace encapsulating him.Though instead of feeling pride for his home, he finds out that people have been suffering and starving on the streets of Chandrila and he sets out to find a solution, even only for a moment.Yet Ben's decisions cause him to get into trouble and before he can help it, he is helped by a scavenger called Rey who not only has amazing abilities but also makes Ben's heart beat a little faster.But he also knows that there are rules, rules that his mother constantly reminds him of:A prince must marry a princess.This is a Reylo AU inspired by the movie "Aladdin"
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron & Finn, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 24
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids in front of Ben were merely four maybe five years old and _starving_ and if Ben didn't do anything soon, who knew how long these children had to live.
> 
> And as heir to the throne, there must be something he could do, even if it was only for now.

It was an unusually hot summer day in the city of Chandrila when Prince Ben Solo decided to escape his everyday duties in the castle to finally discover what was hidden behind the thick palace walls that concealed his view from the kingdom that should sooner or later be his to rule over.

Once he found a female suitor, of course.

Ben's mother, Queen Leia Organa, had urged Ben to find someone to rule by his side ever since his father, Han Solo, had died ten years ago in a battle against the Sith Lord Sheev Palpatine, whose intentions had been to overthrow the King and Queen of Chandrila and rule as emperor over their kingdom. Yet his foul plans had been foiled by Ben's uncle and mother as they fought Palpatine with all their power and weakening his mother severely after she had defeated him. Yet even though the queen had recovered soon after the fight, with age, she started growing tired and weak, reminding her son that it would be best to find a worthy princess to marry, so the kingdom would not be left leaderless in case something were to happen to her only child.

And now, at the age of 25, Ben Solo felt like he was ready to take on the responsibilities of a king, and he was ready to rule and protect his people with the Jedi training he had nearly completed. But he was not ready to marry someone he didn't love or someone who only cared about the crown and not the people. So he didn't see the need to find someone to rule by his side when he was perfectly capable of protecting his country on his own. Which angered his mother.

Ben and Leia had fought about the same issues every time a princess from a new foreign country had come to introduce herself to him for the past couple of years. Leia would tell him what she thought was best for him, which was getting married and taking on the throne while hiding inside the palace from the people he should be protecting, and he would retort with what he thought was best for him, which was getting to know his people and marrying when he saw fit. But even after all these years after his father's death, his mother wouldn't budge. She insisted on Ben staying encapsulated behind the palace walls even though being amongst his people and protecting them had been his greatest wish. But he could not do that while being locked away from them.

So today, after Leia and Ben had argued heavily over him meeting a princess from Parnassos, the crown prince schemed his escape with his best friend and servant, Poe Dameron. Poe would pretend that Ben was in his room studying some ancient Jedi texts while Ben sneaked out of the palace with the help of the Force and spend the day downtown before he would have to return back home to meet the next princess who would try to seduce him for his throne.

And even though Ben Solo felt slightly anxious at the sight of the Chandrilan market filled with many creatures and people, he knew that if there were to be a threat, he could defend himself. He had taken his lightsaber with him after all.

Walking under the scorching afternoon sun, Ben could feel sweat dampen the hair on the nape of his neck. But even though it was starting to get unbearably hot under Ben's black hood and wraps he used to cover the majority of his face with—although he was sure that many citizens had never seen their prince nor could they remember what he looked like due to the fact that the last time he had been outside the palace had been when he was ten years old and his father had taken him to the docks—Ben still covered himself up in case palace guards roamed the city. After all, he didn't feel like getting into _another_ fight with his mother.

As Ben squeezed himself through the crowd with one hand on the lightsaber hidden under his cloak and the other hand holding onto his hood to keep it from revealing his face, he eyed the different goods the market had to offer, ranging from food like bread, fruits and vegetables to weapons and different kinds of fabrics like silk, wool and cotton, filling the prince with pride for his kingdom.

But Ben's pride soon turned to sorrow when his eyes fell upon a pair of children, clothed in colorless, dirty and torn garments, gazing hungrily at the stand covered with ripe and delicious fruit. The kids in front of Ben were merely four maybe five years old and _starving_ and if Ben didn't do anything soon, who knew how long these children had to live.

And as heir to the throne, there must be something he could do, even if it was only for now.

The prince glimpsed swiftly at his surroundings, checking if anyone was watching him steal some food for the hungry children, and quickly swiped some peaches before kneeling down before the kids to seem less intimidating, as he had been told before by Poe that he can appear very menacing when talking to the many female suitors that visited the castle.

"Here," the prince handed them the peaches and tried to smile under his cowl, hoping that his smile could reach his eyes so the children saw that he had had good intentions and wouldn't trick them in the end. It had been a while since Ben had genuinely smiled and he knew that he probably looked like he needed help, but it seemed to have worked because the kids grinned at him toothlessly and quickly rushed down the alley and turned a corner until they were out of sight.

Sighing with a sense of pride for himself, Ben straightened himself and was about to head further down the market when a rough voice stopped him from doing so. "I hope you have the money to pay for the food you just gave away."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome to my Aladdin inspired Reylo-fic!  
> I came up with the idea while watching the remake of "Aladdin" and during the scene where Aladdin trades in some jewelry for some food really made me think of Rey and then I thought it would be fun to write an Aladdin inspired Reylo fic, so here it is! 
> 
> Feel free to let me know what you think and you can hit me up on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rainyplumsy/) or [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fake-laughter-and-fake-friends)!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brunette suddenly inched closer to Ben, causing him to unconsciously steady his gaze on her lips before forcing himself to stare into her eyes again.
> 
> "Trust me," she whispered for only him to hear, her breath caressing his cheek in an unbearably yet comfortable way.

Squatting on the roof of a nearby house, Rey and Rose eagerly watched the market beneath them to search for where they could steal their next meal. The two friends knew that they didn't have to look for long though, knowing that the afternoons were the busiest at the Chandrilan market and thus also the best time for them to quickly grab some food and go without being caught right away. All they needed was the right time to swiftly sneak to a stand and get their job done.

Though Rey could tell that the hot weather made Rose slightly impatient and she couldn't blame her as Rey felt the sun heat up the bare skin on the nape of her neck.

 _Just a little longer_ , Rey thought as her eyes wandered around the colorful market, a feeling inside of her chest giving her a hint that they were about to make their move. It was a feeling Rey always had had inside her, ever since she could remember, and that feeling had always guided her. It had helped her survive all these years when she had been on her own.

But today that feeling was different. Today, Rey felt more of a _pull_ in her chest rather than an instinct. A _pull_ that guided her gaze towards a hooded figure in all black, _so black,_ Rey wondered why she hadn't noticed him before. He definitely stood out in the sea full of worn-out and used cloaks with his neat and clean cowl.

The seemingly misplaced figure stood in front of a fruit stand and Rey's stomach started rumbling at the thought of biting into some fresh fruit as she watched the man looking over his shoulder before grabbing some peaches with one of his large hands and handing them to two children standing nearby like he had no care in the world. It was as if he wasn't afraid of getting caught.

Or he didn't think he could get caught.

While watching the man slowly get up from his position, Rey heard her friend snort, "Amateur. Never linger around the place you stole from."

Rey smirked at the advice she had given Rose when she had taught her how to steal while watching the scene under them change as the owner of the fruit stand and the hooded figure started to argue, the latter yelling in a deep and angry voice, "But those children were _starving_!" making her own heart twist at the memory of herself when she had been a child and how she had wished that someone out there would come to save her.

But Rey quickly pushed her past aside as she watched the owner wrap his hands around the hilt of the knife he had hidden under the table and warned, "Well, _someone_ is going to have to pay for the kids..."

Rey didn't have to think twice before heading to the man who would be in danger if she didn't do something soon. She didn't know why she wanted to help so badly, if it was because he had cared that the hungry children had something to eat or if her _instinct_ had urged her to help, but she knew that she couldn't sit around and do nothing.

"Come, follow me," Rey told Rose quickly as she made her way down the roof with the feeling inside of her humming through her veins as if it had been awakened.

"Well, _someone_ is going to have to pay for the kids..." was the only thing Ben had caught the man say before he snatched his wrist and pinned it down to a wooden surface next to his stand. "And if it isn't _them_ , then it has to be _you._ "

Under different, less life-threatening circumstances, Ben would've found it amusing to be in trouble, something he hadn't gotten himself into since his royal duties had become more earnest. But this wasn't Ben-and-Poe-programmed-C-3PO-to-constantly-cuss or Ben-freed-the-Endor-blue-butterflies kind of trouble.

This was a one-of-us-might-not-get-out-of-this-unharmed kind of trouble.

Ben knew that if he were to reveal his identity to this man, he would probably let him go, maybe even with a couple of crates of his finest fruit, but Ben did not want to risk getting caught.

So he had to get out the situation another way. And Ben had the idea just how to slip away without him or the owner getting hurt.

Yet before Ben Solo could use a Jedi mind trick on the owner, he heard a soft, melodious female voice speak next to him, "Of _course_ he can pay!"

Ben's eyes immediately glanced at the source of the voice to see a small and skinny woman with brown hair tied into three buns on the back of her head, bright hazel eyes and freckled sun-kissed skin in a beige shirt and pants with wraps covering the lower halves of her arms.

The prince felt a small lump in his throat once the girl turned her gaze on him and smiled sincerely, making it suddenly very hard for Ben to keep his cool while being threatened to have his hand chopped off.

"What?" he managed to blurt out after what felt like an eternity as his cheeks began to burn from the heat. Or at least that was what he told himself.

The brunette suddenly inched closer to Ben, causing him to unconsciously steady his gaze on her lips before forcing himself to stare into her eyes again.

"Trust me," she whispered for only him to hear, her breath caressing his cheek in an unbearably yet comfortable way.

Ben didn't know this woman, and he knew he shouldn't trust strangers, but there was something about her that let him believe he could trust this perfect stranger. He had an instinct telling him that she was trustworthy.

Yet that instinct quickly turned to distrust when he felt her small hand pull out the lightsaber he had hidden under his cloak and watched her hand it to the man before them.

Ben was about to protest when the owner of the stand, and apparently his lightsaber, let go of his arm and the girl pulled him after her with a "Come on" and a smug grin on her face.

"What'd you give him _that_ for? That saber belonged to me!" Ben told her angrily as he kept up with her with just a couple of long strides. She seemed to be pleased with herself, he noticed, yet even though she had just gotten him out of trouble, she still seemed to want to leave the market as quickly as possible.

He watched her smile widen once a dark-haired, even _shorter_ woman appeared by her side and the former swiftly grabbed something out of her friends hand and held it out to Ben without even batting an eye.

"Do you mean this thing?" she asked as she held Ben's lightsaber in her hand causing Ben to feel a little guilty about having thought that she had given his weapon away when she had told him to trust her.

He gingerly took the saber from her hand, accidentally brushing his fingers against her skin as he wrapped his hand around the weapon before latching it back onto the belt under his robe as he watched her eyes wander to the stand they had just left. Ben followed her gaze, trying to ignore the stinging sensation burning in his fingertips, and saw as the owner happily reached into his pocket for the priceless object the woman had handed to him only to find it empty.

Ben could feel the anger boiling inside of the man, but before he could say anything, the girl beside him said, "I think now would be a good time to run," and wrapped a small hand around his wrist, pulling him after her again.

Rey couldn't quite tell when it had happened, but at some point palace guards started chasing them down Chandrila's alleyways as she, Rose and the hooded stranger ran from the angry fruit owner.

She could tell that the man next to her was growing anxious at getting caught, but there was no way she was going to let that happen.

After all, Rey never got caught.

"Stop thieves!" she heard one of the guards call after them but Rey paid them no mind as she turned to face her friend and gave her subtle nod to take a different path home to separate the guards.

Rose immediately understood and slipped into a dark alley, leaving Rey and the stranger running for their lives together.

But Rey knew how to shake off the rest of guards very quickly, she just hoped that her companion could be as swift as she was.

As the two entered a seemingly dead-end, Rey briefly looked over her shoulder to see the man staring at the pile of old wooden crates and the house blocking their way and back at her again, making her skin prickle before she stated slightly out of breath, "I hope you can keep up," before jumping on the crates she _knew_ would not give in until she made her way up the wall by grasping onto the rocks her instinct told her to grab.

Once Rey was on top of the roof, she stared down at the stranger wondering if he could make it as fast as she could, or at least as fast as Rose could, without stumbling or causing a commotion by stepping on a broken crate and falling, leaving him to the guards.

Yet to her surprise, he began to follow her steps without hesitation, without a misstep as he seemed to have mimicked her exact movements until he was pulling himself onto the roof next to her. Rey glanced at him in awe as she remembered that it had taken Rose a _long_ time to perfect her climbing skills, and even now after three years of scavenging and stealing food together, she still had some difficulties. But Rey was sure that the man accompanying her had never gone this way before, and she was sure that he had never stolen food before from their previous encounter, yet he still knew which crate was stable enough to jump on and which stones he could hold onto to not slip and fall. He either was a pretty good learner or he had a pretty good instinct like Rey.

Before Rey could drown in astonishment, she heard the palace guards stumble their way and quickly took a glance at their surroundings when she saw a couple of barrels on the edge of the roof.

 _Perfect_ , Rey thought as she schemed a plan to distract the men hunting them and then gazed at the roof ahead of them. They could both easily make the jump, Rey figured after having seen the hooded stranger easily parkour his way up the rooftop. She just needed him to go ahead without her.

"I'm going to need you to jump on that roof," she ordered as she was about to make her way to the barrels.

"What?" he repeated the question he had asked at the market and stared at her as if she were crazy.

Rey could already hear the guards' voices getting louder as they asked commoners if they had seen them and if so which way they had gone. "Trust me on this, I'll be right behind you, but I'm going to buy us some time first," she told him and went to tend to their diversion.

But before she could pick up a barrel, Rey glanced over her shoulder to see him run up to the edge of the roof and leap into the air before landing on his feet as if the jump were nothing to him causing Rey to smile to herself at the thought that this perfect stranger had enough faith in her before she picked up a barrel and tossed it into an old shed, damaging the wood so it seemed like they had jumped into the tiny shed.

Rey stared, pleased with herself, at the damage she had done, knowing that the guards would be stupid enough and search for them there until they noticed that they were long gone before she turned to see the dark cloaked man wait for her on top of the neighboring house.

She knew she could make the jump easily, so she started running towards the edge and leaped into the air and towards the roof. Yet Rey had taken off too early as both her feet barely made it to the edge of the roof and she felt her balance become unsteady as her upper body tried to fight the pull that gravity had on her while she began to fall backwards until a large, strong hand grasped her arm and pulled her back up causing her to stumble against the broad, muscular chest of her new companion.

And before Rey could stop herself, she found herself staring into the stranger's eyes and being utterly mesmerized by them. The color of his irises were a dangerous dark brown yet there had been specks of gold in them, brightening his eyes and making them seem more beautiful than they ought to be.

Yet after staring into this stranger's eyes for far too long, Rey managed to take a step back and avert her gaze over her shoulder.

"Thank you," she said feeling a tad embarrassed, "for preventing my fall."

When she looked back at him, she noticed that he was still staring at her with an intense glint in his eyes before he cleared his throat and responded, "Thank _you_ , for, um... getting me out of there."

And for a brief moment, Rey thought that color rose to the man's cheeks, but she quickly pushed that thought away as she smiled softly and started heading further ahead, hearing his footsteps next to her as if he trusted her with leading him somewhere safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to let me know what you think! :)  
> You can find me on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rainyplumsy/) and [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fake-laughter-and-fake-friends)!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You were _born_ a street rat and you will _die_ as one."

Ben followed the girl who had helped him escape the guards down silent and less-populated alleyways.

Soon after they had escaped to safety, Ben had undone the scarf that had been covering his face to catch his breath and when he had wanted to wrap it around his face again Ben had caught a glimpse at his new companion as she stared momentarily at his lips and then at his eyes before turning her gaze to the path ahead of them. Ben had thought he had seen her cheeks turn into a rosy shade as she glanced at him, but he had told himself that it was probably because of the heat and the excitement of the chase that had caused her to blush.

He still decided to leave his scarf undone though and he couldn’t help but smirk to himself as he did. 

“So,” the prince began as he cleared his throat, “where are you leading me to now?”

The beautiful stranger didn’t answer, though Ben had the feeling that she was smiling while her eyes were still glued to the path in front of them.

Ben shook his head and felt his smile widen as he tried to suppress it and he took a couple of strides to walk beside her. He wasn’t used to people not answering him immediately, and as he thought he should despise this type of behavior towards him, he didn’t mind. It made him feel like any other guy who walked these streets.

Ben decided to try again. “You know, for someone I don’t know, I sure seem to trust you enough for you to lead me to an unknown place.”

This time she stopped and turned to face him, her bright hazel eyes lingering on his face as she spoke softly yet with a hint of amusement in her bell-like voice, “Well, I guess that I must be _trustworthy_.” She had a small smile paint her lips before she grabbed a nearby rope and tugged on it revealing a hidden wooden staircase in front of them where just moments before was a dead end.

Ben then exhaled and wondered how long he had been holding his breath and if it had been because of the sudden element of surprise or because of something else.

Or some _one_ else.

But before he could further entertain his thoughts, the woman smiled at him, a smile that suddenly tugged on his chest and illuminated her whole features, as she said, “Follow me,” before she began to climb up the old and seemingly fragile wooden stairs as if it were the easiest thing to do, as if she didn’t have to fear that she would step on the wrong spot and come crashing down, injuring herself.

The prince lingered behind, eyeing the stranger curiously as he had witnessed for the second time that day that this woman climbed up to high places as if jumping on unstable crates and old wooden steps were nothing to her. It was almost as if something were guiding her.

Ben brushed whatever he thought he had been thinking away as he followed her up the steps soon after her, using the Force to show him which step to take and where he would most likely fall and break his neck just like he had when he had followed her on the crates.

And as soon as the prince arrived at the top and was by her side, he glanced at their surroundings and felt his jaw drop. They were standing in a room with small colorful cushions on the floor and rugs and other small necessities to make it more _homey_ , like a couple of curtains in front of the broken windows to shield the inhabitants from the sun or possibly even from the rain.

Ben had never seen anything like this before. And he was at awe.

“Is this where you live?” he asked her curiously as he noticed some pieces of furniture that had been built together by scavenged pieces.

 _She’s a scavenger_ , he thought to himself amused by how she managed to build a wooden box and old chair legs into what he would call a coffee table.

“It’s not much,” she told him and took a step closer while she stared at the cushions and blankets on the floor, “but it’s _home._ ”

Ben stopped to stare at her as he noticed how she emphasized the word as if she had never had one before and something inside him began to ache.

Yet before he could make a remark or ask her about it, the dark-haired woman entered the living-space with pears in her hands and handing her friend one. The woman he had followed up here held the fruit out to him with a look on her face that read that she was offering him some of their food, not because she was obliged to unlike the many people in the palace, but because she wanted to. Ben shook his head in decline though. He knew that when he got home he would have enough to eat, probably more than he could swallow, and he knew that she needed to scavenge for her food another day.

The friend of the scavenger slumped down on one of the cushions and started eating and Ben started to look around the room some more, finding more curiously put-together objects in the small room while the girl who had saved him at the market fell into step behind him. He could feel her eyes on him, watching him curiously as he traced his fingers along the face of a pilot figurine in silence.

“What’s your name?” she asked suddenly catching him off-guard.

Out of pure reflex, Ben had almost told her his identity that he was the Crown Prince of Chandrila Ben Solo, but before he could unintentionally reveal his true name, he caught himself and stammered, “Kylo. My name is Kylo Ren.”

Ben was glad he could come up with a cover name so quickly, having chosen the name he had used when he and Poe would play pretend as children to use as his identity outside the palace. He smiled to himself as he saw her nod as she believed him before he asked in return, “And you?”

“I’m Rey,” she smiled, letting her face light up again.

 _Rey_ , Ben repeated in his head again. The name suited her very well.

“ _Just_ Rey?” Ben asked wanting to know more of who she was and where she came from but as he noticed her smile falter, he sensed he may have gone too far.

“Just Rey,” she told him in almost a whisper as she stared somberly at her hands and Ben felt his insides go cold with the sudden need to apologize for asking such a personal question. He hadn’t meant to darken her mood or remind her of something she never had, and he felt the need to comfort her and take her pain away.

But before he could even react, Rey added in a slightly more cheerful way, “And this is my best friend Rose. We live and scavenge together.”

Ben nodded as he acknowledged the smaller woman who Rey had introduced as Rose and turned his attention to the huge multi-colored curtain next to Rey. He began to reach for it, to reveal what view was hidden behind the thick fabric, though before he could pull it open Ben glanced back at Rey and asked, “May I?”

He noticed how her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed at his politeness and he momentarily felt heat rush to his face. He hadn’t thought that being polite was going to be such a big deal.

Then again, _he_ was used to politeness. Rey probably wasn’t. 

“Yes, of course,” she uttered giving him the permission to let some light into their home when he caught sight of the landscape that hid behind the curtain.

“You can see the whole city from up here,” he muttered in awe as he watched kids play in silent alleyways, saw people walk down the market with baskets of food and glanced at the loading docks where sailors brought in goods from other cities until his eyes landed on the palace. _His_ home.

Ben slowly sat down at the edge of the open space and gazed at the city he should rule upon someday. It was a beautiful city, a colorful city and even the palace didn’t seem so bad from up here. But Ben knew that his people were suffering. And he only knew because he had disobeyed the rules and snuck out of the palace.

“Yeah,” he heard Rey sigh next to him and he felt her sit down beside him.

For a while, they just sat there staring at the horizon in comfortable silence while Ben’s nerves tingled as he could feel Rey’s body heat next to him and he could hear her breathe silently and peacefully. And Ben felt at ease as well, sitting next to a beautiful woman and staring at the sun slowly setting in the distance. It was like he almost forgot that he was of royal blood.

Until Rey asked slyly, “So, what _is_ someone from the royal palace doing at the Chandrilan market?”

Ben’s heart stopped in his chest and he inhaled sharply, feeling exposed as he now realized that maybe revealing his face to this stranger, beautiful and enticing as she was, may have been the wrong idea even though no commoner had seen Ben since he had last left the palace many years ago.

“How did you know?” Ben asked defeated and glanced at her to see her grinning to herself in amusement before she looked back up to him.

“Well, your robes gave you away at first,” she stated matter-of-factly, “no _commoner_ has robes that have not been damaged by the sun, _especially_ not black ones.”

Ben couldn’t help but let out a snort and Rey continued with a smile, “And your… what was it called? _Lightsaber_ also gave you away. It looks _way_ too expensive to be from someone around here.”

The prince nodded understandingly and defeated once Rey finished and while he thought that she had figured out who he was, she added, “So, what is the prince’s servant doing outside of the palace?”

The prince sighed relieved as he acknowledged that his cover had not been blown and that Rey thought he was a servant of the prince. Little did she know that the crown prince was in her quarters, staring down at his kingdom with her.

“The prince ordered me to wander the streets of Chandrila, to see if everyone is doing alright,” Ben lied with an ache in his chest. He had never known how his people were doing, but he had imagined they were fine. But Ben’s escape from the palace proved just how far from _fine_ the citizens of Chandrila were.

“Well,” Rey began and scooted closer to him, “maybe you should tell the prince to come out himself. The people miss him.”

“Trust me,” Ben scoffed and turned his gaze to Rey to see her eyeing him as curiously as he felt, and as his eyes wandered from her big, bright hazel eyes to her pink parted lips, Ben felt a sudden dryness in his throat, prohibiting him to speak any further.

“He wants to,” he managed to mutter as if in a trance while he felt a pull towards her.

But before Prince Ben could let himself drown in the way Rey was staring back at him, he cleared his throat while pulling his gaze from her and asked, “So… how long have you been living here?”

He felt Rey shift next to him and let himself glance at her as she stared at the street beneath them where children were begging for a loaf of bread.

They were small and hungry children.

A somber silence fell between them as both of them longed to help the children, or _all_ the children living on the street and praying they had another day to live before they died of starvation before she finally spoke, “I left Jakku four years ago and I’ve been living here ever since.”

“Why did you leave?” Ben asked before he could stop himself from curiously questioning this perfect stranger.

Rey smiled, but her smile did not reach her eyes. They were cold and dark with sadness, and maybe even anger. “I left to protect myself,” she began, her gaze unmoving as if she were replaying her memory in front of her. “My parents sold me for drinking money on Jakku when I was five years old to a horrible man. A man who occasionally beat me for disobeying him… or when he had a bad day at his… _bar_.

“He never stopped hurting me as a child even when I started working as a waitress in his sketchy bar where women were forced to wear revealing clothes and when they were _asked_ to join a guest in the ‘dancing room’ they had no other choice than to follow the paying customer. I was still safe from all of that, but I knew that once I were to become of age I would be forced to work alongside the other older women against my will.

“And at the age of 15, when my body was… starting to take on a more ‘female’ and ‘grown-up’ form, I noticed how his gaze shifted from disgust to something darker and scarier. I knew I had to escape, I just didn’t know how, but one night I woke up and there was just this _feeling_ tugging inside of me. A _feeling_ guiding me to the docks in the middle of the night. And I voluntarily followed my instincts to the docks where I snuck onto a ship and never looked back. I hid in a crate for a couple of days until the ship docked on Chandrila where as soon as I snuck away from the ship I ran to the market and had to start looking for a way to feed myself.

“I tried begging at first but no one payed attention. They all have their own problems and low wages to sacrifice a piece of bread for a beggar, so I started to steal and scavenge for my survival. And I’ve been doing it ever since,” Rey finished with a heavy sigh while staring into the distance.

“I’m sorry,” Ben apologized and placed a hand on top of hers, a gesture he had seen his parents do to each other whenever either one of them was hurt or worried.

But Ben swiftly pulled his hand away when he heard Rey gasp and he felt deeply embarrassed, yet that feeling got washed away by her soft chuckle. “It’s alright. I’m glad I am where I am. And besides, I’ve got Rose with me, my companion in all of this. Even though her scavenging skills weren’t always as good as they are now.”

“Not everyone can be as naturally gifted in sneaking around and stealing as _you_ , Rey,” Rose scoffed playfully behind them causing Rey to giggle and Ben to smirk at the sound.

“ _Naturally_ gifted?” Ben asked amused with raised brows.

Rey shrugged with a huge grin. “I used to boast about how I never got caught stealing until I dragged her along. But to be fair, Rose never had to be afraid of surviving when she was growing up. I guess I knew what to do because I was somehow always fighting to survive.”

Ben nodded understandingly, but asked Rose, “And how did you end up living with Rey?”

Yet Rose did not answer him. She simply turned her gaze away from him as if he had said something to harm her.

“She doesn’t like to talk about it,” Rey explained and stared at her friend compassionately.

“Oh,” Ben realized that he must have been asking for too much information. “I’m sor-”

“It’s alright. I just haven’t talked about it in a long time,” Rose told him while wiping at her cheeks with her hand. “I lost my home after my sister died in a war overseas. She was the only family I had and when she was taken away from me, I was thrown out of our home by our landlord.

“I too, started begging for food, but no one cares if you are starving anymore. No one but Rey. She was the only person to bat an eye and give up some of her food for me. She _saved_ me from starvation and she stopped me from selling my sister’s necklace. Rey took me in and taught me how to steal and scavenge and yeah, maybe I’m not as good as her, but I am _alive_. And that’s all thanks to her,” Rose told him with a glisten in her eyes as she stared at her friend.

Ben then also felt something inside of his chest as he glanced at Rey. A feeling, a very deep feeling inside of his chest that urged him to get closer to Rey, to touch her.

But before he could even utter a sound, horns started blaring in the distance. And not just any horns.

They were horns coming from the palace.

Another princess was about to enter the palace and that meant his mother would soon find out that he left.

Ben quickly got up and cursed, “Shit. I have to go. The… _prince_ needs me,” before heading towards the exit of Rose and Rey’s home. “It was really nice to meet you.”

He could sense Rey following him as he swiftly left her home and made his way towards the palace.

“Kylo, wait!” Ben heard her call breathlessly as he stopped a couple of streets from the palace to adjust his cowl and cover his face once again. “Why do you have to leave? Don’t those horns mean that there is just _another_ princess coming to visit the prince? What do you need to be there for?”

Ben smirked slightly but he knew she couldn’t see it. “I have to help and prepare the prince for his visitor,” he lied and made his way down the street, feeling her presence behind him with every step until he stood close to where he had escaped from earlier that day.

Rey stopped right behind him and he turned around to look at her once more before he had to vanish behind the palace walls again. He felt himself longing for more of her company but he also knew that he could not risk staying away from the palace for too long.

“Thank you,” he found himself saying. “I had fun today.”

“We could have fun some other time… when you are free or when the prince gives you the order to examine his city again,” she suggested hopefully. “We _will_ see each other again, won’t we?” Rey asked and Ben’s heart twisted terribly.

He wasn’t sure he was going to see her again, he wasn’t even sure if he would ever have the possibility to escape the palace again.

Which is why he wanted to take one last look of her. He wanted to remember the person who had treated him like a normal person, who had saved him from danger and possibly revealing his identity.

He wanted to remember _her_.

“I hope so. I really do,” he told her before turning around and heading towards the passageway for the palace guards, leaving not only himself but Rey with an aching sense of hope to see each other again.

Rey started making her way home back soon after Kylo disappeared into a secret passageway to attend to the prince.

She couldn’t quite tell what she had felt when Kylo had to leave but she knew that she wanted to see him again.

And she knew that she would be overjoyed if she had the chance.

It had been a while since Rey felt like she could trust someone, especially a _man_ who she had never met before, but there was just something about Kylo that told her she could trust him. It was her instinct that told her she didn’t need to be afraid of him, no matter how tall and dark he was.

 _Or handsome_ , she admitted to herself and felt her cheeks flare as she remembered how he glanced at her when they were sitting beside one another in her home with glistening dark eyes that were so mesmerizing and lips so soft looking, Rey had caught herself wondering what they tasted like before she had reminded herself that he was a stranger and that she knew nothing about him beside the fact that he was the prince’s servant and that his name was Kylo.

Yet even though Rey did not know who he was, there was something about him that felt so _familiar_. Which was probably why Rey had trusted him so easily.

And maybe why she also wanted to see him again. 

While Rey was wrapped deep in thoughts of Kylo, she hadn’t noticed that she was in the middle of the crowd gathering in front of the palace to catch a glimpse of the princess who had arrived for their prince and possibly his crown. Rey hadn’t noticed until she heard an orbak neigh loudly and children screaming from the top of their lungs as they were hunching a few feet beneath the creature’s pouncing hooves.

Rey didn’t even take a moment to blink as she sprinted towards the children, placing herself between them and the startled orbak before quickly pulling the children after her when she dodged the dangerously close hooves.

Once she got the kids to safety, Rey turned her glare at the rider and yelled, “Watch where you’re going! You could’ve _killed_ these kids!”

Rey could feel her anger boiling inside of her, like it sometimes did when she was furious with the world, with her parents selling her to Unkar Plutt, with Unkar when he had abused her. It always was a dark and raging anger that would boil furiously in her chest and try to take over her whole body, but Rey never let her anger get the best of her. She never gave into the darkness despite what the world had thrown at her.

The rider was bedazzled from head to toe with dark jewels and silks and cloth Rey could only dream of. He obviously belonged to the princess’s court, Rey could tell by the way he clothed and held himself. Too proud to be seen speaking with her.

He simply acknowledged her with an arrogant glance and spat, “So? Would someone miss them? Would you have missed them, _street rat_?”

Startled by his approach, Rey took a step back but kept her eyes focused on the man in front of her. “How _dare_ -” she began but the rider cut her off before she could defend her dignity.

“Spare me. Fact is you _are_ a street rat. You were _born_ a street rat and you will _die_ as one.” He smirked as he realized that he struck a nerve before turning his attention back to his orbak and making his way to follow the rest of the parade.

Rey stood frozen in place feeling her nails digging into her palms and her body shake with fury. She wished she could harm him, knock him off his orbak. But she knew she could not do that. She didn’t need to get in trouble with the guards surrounding the place, so she took a deep shuddering breath and shut her eyes, feeling the anger that had nearly taken over her body recoil and leaving her with a hollow feeling inside her chest instead. As she opened her eyes, she stared at the palace before turning her back on the massive building and headed back home.

Once Rey opened the curtain that functioned as a door, she noticed that Rose had been gone.

 _She probably headed to the crowd_ , Rey figured, _There were a lot of people, she is bound to find something worth to trade in for portions there._

She walked hollowly to the opening and sat down next to where Kylo had seated himself only a couple of hours before as she stared at the palace from the distance, her heart aching from her encounter with the rider.

“He doesn’t know me,” Rey mumbled hurt as she recounted what he had said to her. “He doesn’t know who I am and what I have been through.”

Rey let her gaze wander to her side, to where Kylo had been and she sighed heavily, wishing that she could talk to him some more. He had somehow looked past her shabby clothes and scavenged furniture and seen her for who she was: a person just like any other. A person trying to find her place in all this.

Rose snuck her way next to Rey but Rey could tell that she was on her way home a couple of blocks down.

“Did you find anything?” Rey asked her friend as she stared at the palace.

“Nah, I didn’t bother looking,” she answered with a hint of amusement in her voice causing Rey to look at her friend with a raised brow.

“Rose, what are you hiding?”

She smiled a little deviously before pulling a long metal contraption out of her pouch and presented it to Rey. It was then that Rey knew what her friend had been holding in her hands. What her friend had _stolen_.

“I’m thinking Jabba would give us twenty portions each for _this_ thing,” Rose explained with pride but Rey quickly snatched Kylo’s lightsaber out of her friend’s hands.

“Why did you steal this from Kylo?” she scolded.

“Since when does it matter who we steal from as long as we can feed ourselves?” Rose acknowledged with a question of her own.

“Because,” Rey started and blushed, “Kylo is _different_.”

“Ah,” Rose sighed. “You _like_ him.”

“No,” Rey scoffed but felt like she was lying. She _did_ like him, just probably not the way Rose meant. And she _did_ enjoy his company. _So much_ , actually, that she had hoped to see him again, even when it had sounded like Kylo would not be able to see her after today.

She hadn’t known how much she had wanted to talk to him until she had come back home and she wished for an opportunity to meet him again.

And when she glanced at the saber in her hand Rey realized that the opportunity had been given to her now.

Rey quickly got up and grabbed her shabby and worn out hood from the rack and started making her way down the stairs.

“Rey, wait! Where are you going?” Rose called after her.

“I need to return something!” she hollered back with a grin plastered on her face as she made her way down the streets of Chandrila to get to the most heavily guarded building in the city.

The royal palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Rey's and Rose's backstory for ya! :) 
> 
> Thank you for the comments and kudos! They really make my day! :)
> 
> Hit me up on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rainyplumsy/) and [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fake-laughter-and-fake-friends)!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Ben, you can’t keep on sending princesses away like this,” the queen said as calmly as she could. But Ben could tell that she was on the verge of an outburst.
> 
> He definitely knew that he got his temper from his mother.

Queen Leia sighed heavily as the massive palace doors shut behind yet _another_ enraged princess leaving the kingdom whom she deemed perfect for her son.

“What _exactly_ was wrong with Princess Phasma, Ben?” his mother asked with her forehead resting against her palm. She was sitting on the throne in a blue gown with her legs crossed and her hair in a giant bun with a braid holding her crown in place. Ben’s mother looked just like the queen she was – stern, calm and collected. But she also had the motherly glint in her eyes when she looked at him. The glint that told him that she worried about his future and what would become of him when she was gone.

Ben straightened his spine as he stood in front of his mother and held her gaze with his. He had to prove to her that he could do this, that he could be a strong and sure ruler without someone by his side.

Strong and sure just like _her_.

“I’m sorry mother, but,” the prince began, “did you even _listen_ to her?”

“Yes, I did,” Leia answered sternly, “She talked about how she would rule as queen.”

“ _Exactly_. She talked about _herself_ and basically about the power she would have if she were to become queen. She didn’t _once_ mention what she would do for our people, mother,” Ben explained a little agitated. He could tell he was starting to lose his temper again just thinking about the princess who had introduced herself as “the strongest ruler Chandrila would ever see.” No doubt she wouldn’t be strong. She was tall and slightly intimidating.

But not as intimidating as the crown prince.

Ben knew he had acted purely out of spite, and possibly also to boost his ego after having been insulted by the princess that way when he had immediately retorted to her introduction with, “Then how come you won’t rule your own kingdom when you are so strong?” He knew he could knock her off her pedestal and throw her off guard.

And after she had talked about herself and her future reign as queen, Leia had invited her to stay for dinner and was about to send Hux off to show the Princess of Parnassos to her room. But Ben Solo wasn’t going to let it get that far.

So he had told her he wouldn’t let a power-hungry princess who was full of herself stay longer than needed.

Or something along the lines of that.

Ben couldn’t quite remember that part. All he remembered was that he had succeeded in making her leave and that was all that mattered.

For him at least. His mother wasn’t so fond of his outburst and colorful language.

“Ben, you can’t keep on sending princesses away like this,” the queen said as calmly as she could. But Ben could tell that she was on the verge of an outburst.

He definitely knew that he got his temper from his mother.

“I _can_ if I feel like she doesn’t know what’s best for the kingdom, for the _people_ ,” he stressed agitated.

“Oh, and _you_ know what’s best for our people? Of course you do, after having snuck out of the palace this afternoon. After _you_ disobeyed the rules and left the palace grounds after I clearly _forbid_ it,” Queen Leia snapped at her son and stood up to give herself a height advantage on her pedestal. “You want to be a ruler, the king of Chandrila but you act like a child, Ben. You do not do what is asked of you and you never consider the consequences of your actions.”

“What _consequences_?” Ben scoffed sourly. “Any of these women who walked through those doors would’ve made a _terrible_ queen and you know it! And how else am I supposed to act when you treat me like a child who can’t take care of himself?”

“Enough!” Leia announced and glared down at Ben with furious brown eyes. “Armitage, please escort the prince to his chambers. And _don’t_ let him _out of your sight_ ,” she added bitterly without breaking eye contact with Ben.

The prince could feel his left eye twitch with anger and disappointment before he turned around to head to his room like the child he was being treated as.

Leia slumped against her throne shortly after Ben left the throne room and rubbed her temples. She could feel another migraine coming to her. It wouldn’t be the first one she would get from her son’s stubbornness. Or her own stubbornness. It didn’t really matter.

She heard footsteps against the marble floor and she knew immediately who they belonged to.

“He really got the worst of my genes,” she chuckled as her royal adviser Snoke approached her.

Snoke had been at her side ever since her husband Han Solo died at the hands of Palpatine and he had been her trusted adviser ever since. She never made a decision without talking it over with Snoke, and her brother Luke of course.

In fact, it had been one of Snoke’s ideas for Ben to continue his Jedi training with Luke and for him to stay behind the palace walls because of the dangers looming behind the barrier. Even the idea of Ben finding a suitor to rule Chandrila by his side had been positively received by Snoke, even if Luke thought it might not be as necessary as training Ben.

“That is nonsense, your Highness,” Snoke spoke as he bowed. “The prince just doesn’t realize that you want what’s best for him just yet. But trust me, he will someday.”

Snoke straightened his posture underneath his gold robes and smiled a crooked smile that highlighted his cold blue eyes.

Leia sighed. “I really hope he will, Snoke. I’m just afraid he won’t see that when the time comes.”

“My Queen, with your guidance he _will_ see that he has to follow the path you have laid out for him if he wants to become a fit ruler for your kingdom. I do not believe he wants to fail and disappoint you, or your fallen husband,” Snoke lamented, striking a painful nerve in Leia.

“You are probably right,” she stated as her hand reached her husband’s medal underneath her royal garments. “He wouldn’t want to disappoint Han. He has so much of his father’s heart in him,” Leia added with a soft chuckle.

Han may have been a little bit of a rebel as well, but he had been a natural born hero, and she could see some of that spirit in their son every day. Even when Ben defended himself and his decisions, he did it with the spirit of his father.

But Han had also known his duties as king. And Ben… well, Leia didn’t seem so sure if Ben really accepted his.

“Just give him some more time. Sooner or later he will come around. I can _feel it_ ,” Snoke told her with a grin which Leia could not quite interpret, but decided it meant that he had faith in her decisions.

He was her trusted royal adviser after all. He would only want what’s best for the kingdom.

And she trusted him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, hello!  
> I'm sorry for the short chapter, but I felt like a small interaction between Ben and his mother was necessary. 
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments and kudos! They brighten even the darkest of my days and motivate me! :) <3
> 
> You can say hi to me on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rainyplumsy/) and [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fake-laughter-and-fake-friends)!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I met a girl.”
> 
> This sparked Poe Dameron’s interest and he leaned forward as if he could catch every word Ben would say. “You did? Tell me more.”

Ben Solo never really liked Armitage Hux, and being escorted to his room by him was probably more infuriating than being led to his chamber by any other servant of the royal palace.

There was just something about the red-headed man’s smug face and cold blue eyes that gave Ben the feeling he shouldn’t keep him so close to his business. And besides, Hux repeating and reminding Ben that he wouldn’t be in this situation if he had only listened to his mother and finally found a suitor did not make the prince reconsider his feelings towards the man following him.

Ben really had to try to maintain calm to not dislocate Armitage’s jaw with his fist as the latter droned on and on about how the prince was supposed to follow orders and how it could look like he didn’t care about his kingdom on the outside. But it was getting _really hard_ for Ben to control his temper.

The prince quickly turned on his heel to stand before the pain-in-his-ass and snarled, “How should _I_ know what it looks like to outsiders when I’m not _allowed_ to leave the palace? And how are outsiders to know what it looks like when they don’t even know how _I_ look like?”

The prince glared at Hux for a while longer before turning around and stalking along the hallway by himself until he reached his room while the red-headed servant stood frozen in place by Ben’s threatening air.

Ben sighed relieved as soon as he shut the door behind him and was finally in the safe haven of his own space where he was not confronted with Hux’s ignorant and slightly arrogant remarks and where he was not told how to act.

In his room, he could more or less be himself. He could practice his calligraphy, he could lounge around on his bed and dream about the city outside of the palace walls and most importantly, he could talk freely about his thoughts with his best friend without being judged or told that he had to focus on his duties and not on what he thought was best.

At least he could do so for a while before he had to head into the courtyard to train with his Uncle Luke.

Ben started to rub at his temples to try to avoid getting a migraine again.

“That bad, huh?” Ben Solo heard his best friend ask.

“You have _no idea,_ ” he replied as he ran a hand through his dark hair and glanced at Poe lounging on one of the sofas in the room.

“So, what was wrong with this one?” Poe asked and sat upright.

Ben chuckled and shook his head. “You know _exactly_ what was wrong. I don’t want to marry anyone just because I _have to_ , especially not a woman who only wants the throne.”

Ben then felt a nudge against his thigh and a sad beep, and when he took a glance at the origin of the sound he saw Poe’s droid BB-8 seeking Ben’s attention.

But Ben didn’t feel like playing around with the droid, so he just gave him a small pat on his metal dome and began to head to his bed. He wanted to at least relax _a little_ before Jedi training.

Yet before he could find his way to his bed, Ben tripped over the black robes he had tossed onto the floor before heading into the throne room to scare off Princess Phasma.

They were the black robes he had worn out to sneak out of the palace, to wander the streets of Chandrila.

They were the robes he had worn when he had met Rey, the scavenger from the market.

Ben hadn’t noticed he was smiling at the memory until Poe pointed out, “But I see there was _something_ good about today.”

“Hm?” Ben glanced back at his friend and hung up the discarded clothing.

BB-8 rolled his way to his owner where he knew he would get more attention than from Ben and was welcomed with a grin and several pats before Poe said, “I’m guessing the secret trip was worth it.”

The prince opened his dresser and picked out his training garments—a black sweater and black pants—and simply replied, “Yes.” He disappeared into the refresher to change his clothes and appeared back into the room and mentioned casually, “I met a girl.”

This sparked Poe Dameron’s interest and he leaned forward as if he could catch every word Ben would say. “You did? Tell me more.”

“She actually saved me today. She scammed a salesman to save my ass. And then we ran away from the guards and she hid me at her place,” he told his friend. “It was… _fun_.”

Ben could see Poe trying to hide a smirk. “What did she look like?”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes, yet still considered how to describe Rey to his best and only friend. But no matter how long Ben thought about it, he couldn’t find the words to describe how soft and silky her hair looked or how bright her hazel eyes were or how pink her lips were and how he had considered brushing his lips against hers and running his hands through her hair and caressing her smooth freckled skin with his fingers.

Ben felt his cheeks redden at the latter thought and nervously brushed his hair out of his face. “She was…” he began and considered his words carefully. “She was like nothing I have ever seen.”

Poe nodded understandingly. “That beautiful, huh?”

Ben decided not to answer. He didn’t believe that the word would do Rey justice.

But he did smile unconsciously and that _really_ caught Poe’s attention. And that was revealed in the broad grin on his friend’s face.

“What are you smiling about?” Ben asked suspiciously as sat down on his mattress.

Poe answered, “It just seems like you are smitten, Ben. It looks good on you.”

“I’m not _smitten_ ,” Ben Solo snorted and shook his head as he tried to convince himself that he was not “smitten.”

“You are _so_ smitten, Benjamin Organa-Solo. I’ve known you long enough to peek through your hard and cold exterior. You _like_ this woman and you cannot hide it from me,” Poe explained with smug triumph.

Ben slumped against his bed and thought his friend’s words over. He _did_ like Rey. A lot actually. He liked her _so much_ he even considered getting in trouble again by sneaking out of the palace again just to see and talk to her.

So maybe he was a _little_ smitten.

“Even if it were true,” Ben mentioned carefully so Poe couldn’t bask in his triumph, “there isn’t anything I could do about it. I’m a _prince_ and she’s a… _scavenger_. I shouldn’t even consider liking her that way because ‘it would go against my royal duties.’”

Poe Dameron got up from the sofa to sit down next to his friend as comfort. “Yeah, I wish you had it easier. Then again, I wish _I_ had it easier, too. Being the prince’s servant doesn’t get a lot of dates either you know.”

Ben scoffed, “I know,” and got up to retrieve his lightsaber from his belt. He might as well start training now. It could take his mind off of Rey and that was what he needed right now.

But as Ben found his belt, he realized that it was saber-less.

“ _Shit_!” Prince Ben cursed and pinched the bridge of his nose out of annoyance.

“What’s wrong?” Poe wondered.

“I must’ve left my lightsaber with Rey,” Ben told him a little concerned over how Luke would react to Ben’s forgetfulness.

Yet Poe somehow didn’t share Ben’s concern. Instead he smirked and mentioned, “Well, I guess that would be a reason to see her again.”

And with that, Ben’s thoughts about how Luke might scold him vanished into thin air and were replaced by the hope of seeing Rey again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry again for a shorter chapter but it's been a pretty busy week (and I'm trying to build up to longer chapters).  
> I hope you love the dynamic between Poe and Ben as much as I do! 
> 
> Thank you again for the comments and the kudos! You are all so kind! :) 
> 
> You can hit me up on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rainyplumsy/) and [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fake-laughter-and-fake-friends)!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weapon did not look like any lightsaber Luke had shown him. This saber was cross-guarded unlike his own weapon and had a black hilt.
> 
> And it was _intriguing_.

Besides Ben’s hope of seeing Rey once more, he still had to explain to his uncle that he had lost his saber during his unauthorized trip. And that was something the prince was not looking forward to at all.

With long and hurried strides, and BB-8 at his heels, Ben made his way to the courtyard where he knew Luke Skywalker was waiting for him. Where he knew he was going to get in trouble, _again_.

Luke luckily wasn’t as strict as Ben’s mother, probably due to the fact that he was only his Jedi Master and uncle, and not his parent and ruler of Chandrila, but that didn’t mean that Luke would take Ben losing his saber, a _Jedi’s_ weapon, easily.

As soon as the crown prince stepped outside, he could see the back of his uncle’s gray streaked head as he stood in front of the training course he had put up for Ben. This made Ben uneasy as he noticed that his teacher had erected several droids with weapons for Ben to practice combat with and he swallowed hard. Maybe this wouldn’t be as easy as Ben Solo thought.

Hastily walking down the stairs and taking two steps at a time to get to the training course, Ben completely forgot about the droid Poe had sent to keep him company until he heard a mechanical cry and a loud crash behind him causing him to glance behind his shoulder to see BB-8’s head lying a couple of feet from his body. Prince Ben immediately tended to his best friend’s droid by placing its dome-shaped head back on its round body.

“Please don’t mention this to Poe,” he whispered to the droid as he gave BB-8 a pat on his head. “He wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.”

Poe’s orange and white droid chirped that Ben’s secret was safe with him before following the prince to the older Jedi.

“Master Skywalker,” Ben nodded curtly as a greeting.

“Ben,” his teacher smirked. “I hope you aren’t too exhausted from your little adventure earlier. I’ve prepared a dueling course for you today that should be a little more advanced than the one from last week. I believe it is only appropriate after you destroyed last week’s battle droids shortly after our lesson started.”

“Well, actually there’s something you need to know before we start,” Ben began which piqued his uncle’s interest and caused the prince’s heart to hammer nervously in his chest. “I lost my saber today.”

The look on Luke’s face could only be described as utter disappointment as he sighed and shook his head after Ben’s confession.

“Ben…”

“Look, I know it sounds bad and like I’m irresponsible, but that’s not true. I just misplaced it at the market. If we just go look for it we will probably find it and…”

“No, Ben. _I_ will send guards downtown. Your mother forbid you to step out of the castle again, _even_ with supervision. You are still the Prince of Chandrila who is not only soon to become king but also strong with the Force. There is bound to be someone out there who wants to get you,” Luke explained somewhat angrily.

“But we could fight off threats together, Luke. Like you just said, I am strong with the Force and so are you,” said Ben a bit agitated. He felt like he was being kept in a cage again.

“No _buts_ Ben. As future King of Chandrila you should know this by now. And as a Jedi in training you should also know by now that you need to take care of your weapon and not just leave it lying around somewhere.” Even though his uncle’s voice was still soft, Ben could sense the anger and disappointment beneath the quivering surface. And he could feel his own anger vibrate inside of him.

He was being scolded as if he were a child, _again_. People were making decisions _for him_. And he felt like he wasn’t allowed to make mistakes, _ever_.

It was unfair.

“You’ll be practicing your meditation today,” Master Skywalker told him as he turned to head towards the palace. “I’ll gather some guards to search the market for your lightsaber and if they retrieve it we can resume combat-training.”

Luke briefly turned around to look at his nephew, his blue eyes glistening with sorrow. But before further words could be said, the Jedi Master turned away and vanished into the palace, leaving Ben with anger boiling in his stomach.

And before Ben could control himself, he picked up one of his mother’s flower pots and hurled it against one of Luke’s training droids, immediately knocking it down as he screamed in frustration.

He was sick and tired of being talked to like a child. He was sick and tired of being told what to do and what not to do. And most importantly, he was sick and tired of having to _obey_.

Ben could feel his white hot rage run through his veins and even though Luke had always told him to dismiss angry thoughts and remain level-headed, Ben felt like ignoring his Master’s teachings for once.

Because Ben was _furious_ and he _wanted_ the fiery fury to take over him, he _wanted_ to be angry and destroy things.

He just wanted to be heard.

“It’s unfair, isn’t it?” Ben heard a voice behind him, yet for a moment he thought it was coming from inside his head. The voice just seemed _so familiar_.

But as Ben turned around he realized that the familiarity of the voice was not because he believed he had heard it in his mind before, but because the voice belonged to his mother’s trusted adviser, Snoke.

Ben wondered how long he had been standing there and how much he had heard. Or _seen_. 

“What?” Ben asked, wanting the adviser to elaborate on what he meant.

“It is unfair the way you are being treated, my Prince. First you are being treated like a child because you wanted a little freedom and now you are forced to meditate even though Skywalker knows that it would be more important to train you in the art of fighting,” Snoke explained coming closer to Ben. It was giving him an eerie feeling in his chest.

Yet Ben chose to ignore his unease because Snoke was speaking as if he understood how Ben was feeling. And it was the first time that someone besides Poe _understood_ Ben.

“I guess it is hard for them to realize that I no longer am a child,” the prince told the royal adviser while eyeing him curiously as the latter stalked around Ben similar to how a lion would circle his prey.

This made the hair on the back of his neck stand.

“I have tried talking to your mother about this _before_ , but she won’t have it. It is just depressing watching a young, strong man being encapsulated in his own home with no own decisions. _Very_ depressing,” Snoke said halting in front of the young prince. “And now your own uncle is stopping you from completing your training just because you lost your weapon. Doesn’t he have a spare? Or is he trying to stop you from becoming _better_?”

Ben Solo glanced towards the training course Luke had set up for him. He had said that it was harder than the one Ben had worked through last week, but as Ben set his eyes upon the course he figured he could have finished off most of these droids easily. And he could prove that to his uncle if he had given Ben a spare saber.

“Luke wants me to take more care of my weapon which is why he wouldn’t give me another,” Ben told Snoke. “Which I think is _stupid_. How does he think I could keep on getting better if he won’t _help me_ get better? With a spare lightsaber I could prove to him that I am no kid anymore and that I am ready to fend off danger on my own!”

This seemed to amuse Snoke as his eyes glistened brightly and a sharp-toothed grin split his dry lips.

“Well Prince Ben, I could help you with the obstacles which lay before you, _if_ you can keep a secret.”

But before Ben could ask what secret Snoke wanted him to keep, his mother’s adviser pulled out a lightsaber out of the sleeve of his golden robes and held it out to Ben. The weapon did not look like any lightsaber Luke had shown him. This saber was cross-guarded unlike his own weapon and had a black hilt.

And it was _intriguing_.

“I found this saber years ago on one of my trips in a faraway land. I thought it was beautiful and took it with me, but without the proper training and because my duties as royal adviser do not call for lightsabers or Jedi-training, I put it away,” Snoke told the prince as he listened to his tale. “But when I heard that my Prince needed a weapon to train with, I decided that it would be best to pass this lightsaber on to someone who _truly_ needs it.”

Prince Ben gingerly took the weapon out of Snoke’s scarred and long hands and immediately felt a shift run through his body as soon as he ignited the saber and saw three red blades glowing in the night sky.

Ben Solo felt somehow more _powerful_ than he ever had.

He glanced from the lightsaber back to its former owner. “Thank you, Snoke.”

“Don’t thank me, Your Highness. Just… go along and prove to your uncle that you _are_ capable of protecting yourself,” Snoke said with a glint in his eyes causing Ben to nod in agreement before turning towards the training course and beginning his combat-training while his mother’s adviser left.

Then suddenly, it was as if nothing else existed besides Ben, the targets before him and the _power_ he felt coursing through his veins. And with every swipe of his blade, Ben could feel that power grow and slowly nestle itself somewhere in his body.

And Ben liked that power. It made him feel _invincible_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I hope enjoy this chapter featuring Sneaky Snoke! I wonder what he is up to... 
> 
> Thank you for your comments and kudos! You are truly the best!!
> 
> You can hit me up on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rainyplumsy/) and [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fake-laughter-and-fake-friends)!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I have this… this _feeling_ inside me that guides me,” Rey uttered never breaking away from his gaze. “It’s always been there to help me survive when I was all alone and now I feel it hum inside me more vibrant than it ever has. It’s like it’s… _awake_.”

Rose had insisted on tagging along to create a diversion while Rey climbed the palace walls to find Kylo Ren and return his lightsaber, and Rey had been grateful for that. The two scavengers had known that the palace was heavily guarded during the day, but at night there seemed to be a whole new group of guards wandering along the massive wall.

A burlier and _stronger_ group of guards with heavy armor and deadly weapons that made Rey _pray_ that Rose wouldn’t get caught by the men.

Because other than Rey, who _never_ got caught, Rose had had some instances where she had been in danger for stealing.

Though Rose promised she definitely would not get in trouble.

Rey’s friend had brought a device with her that she had built herself with gathered pieces from the market which, according to Rose, would keep the guards occupied as long as Rey needed them to be without Rose being in danger.

And when Rose showed her gadget, which was a small silver ball, to Rey, Rey had to ask how something _so tiny_ could create a diversion _so big_ that would force the guards to leave their position.

Rose wiggled her eyebrows deviously and answered, “An explosion.”

“You are not going to create an actual explosion, are you?” Rey asked as they sat on a nearby roof to watch the guards do their job.

Rose chuckled. “Of course not! This thing will just create a hologram and sound effects of an explosion. So it’ll be an illusion. One they do not know of.”

Rey smiled at that. She had no doubt that Rose would harm other people just so Rey could sneak into the palace. Rose was not that kind of person.

She was a great inventor though.

Her friend eyed Rey and then the guards in the distance. “Ready when you are,” she said and waited for Rey’s approval.

Rey waited for the perfect moment, the moment her instinct would let her know when to go without getting caught and when she watched the men switch positions, she felt a push that told her it was now or never.

“Now,” she let Rose know and quickly slid down the roof to hide in the shadow of a nearby tree as her friend activated her gadget, causing the masked and burly guards to run towards the “explosion.”

As the men tried to tend to the damage, Rey ran towards the wall, jumped and latched onto a rock before quickly climbing her way to the top, her feeling guiding her all the way until she reached her destination and could give Rose a nod to turn off the illusion so the men could return to their job.

Rey chuckled to herself as she wished she could see the faces of the guards when the explosion suddenly vanished, but she knew that if she were to come too close to the scene, she would get caught. And she _never_ got caught. So instead, Rey jumped from the top of the wall to the nearest tree-branch and hid behind shadows from palace guards before leaping onto the next tree until she reached the courtyard where she could see and _feel_ him.

Kylo Ren.

She watched him with her feet dangling from the branch she was sitting on as he wielded a red saber with three blades instead of one and Rey thought the weapon looked odd. She could not quite understand why there were two shorter blades on either side of the hilt instead of just one simple blade, or maybe even two blades on either side of the hilt, but the design of Kylo’s weapon was not what bothered her.

What bothered her was that while Kylo was swinging and stabbing at droids, she sensed that something was _different_ inside of him, like something was incredibly _wrong_.

And Rey did not like the change that occurred inside of him.

Yet even though there was an eerie feeling surrounding Kylo, Rey still was determined to return his lightsaber back to him.

Rey sneakily approached Kylo like he was a wild beast she was trying to tame and she watched him swing his saber with ease and his muscles flex under his black sweatshirt causing Rey to blush.

She was so close to him now. So close she could see the determination in his face, the sweat dripping from his brow. She was so close she imagined she could hear his heart beat from fighting.

Rey was _so close_ to Kylo, she knew all she had to do was to utter his name to get his attention.

But before Rey could let his name roll off her tongue, Kylo suddenly turned around and pointed the tip of his blazing red blade towards her with a wild glare.

Rey inhaled sharply at the look on his face. She was sure he didn’t recognize her right then and there because as he stared at her, saber still raised and eyes still burning with rage, she had a weird feeling in her gut that he wasn’t quite _with her_.

But as a couple of seconds passed, Rey watched his eyes soften as he recognized her and the feeling inside her washed away.

“Rey?” Kylo uttered as he lowered his weapon and turned it off, latching it onto his belt. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

He looked surprised to see her and maybe even a little excited. Rey couldn’t quite tell by the way he gazed at her with bright intensity and a smile tugging at his lips.

“I came to return your lightsaber,” she told him shyly as she unhooked his weapon from her belt and handed it back to him, their fingers briefly brushing against each other and sparking some form of electric energy from the brush of their fingertips to her heart.

“Rose kind of stole it,” she confessed which caused Kylo to unsuccessfully try to suppress a smile and Rey couldn’t help but grin herself.

“And as for how I got here, well… I don’t think it should be any of your concern. I don’t want the prince to get wind of how I got here and hire more guards,” Rey told him smugly which caused him to chuckle and Rey’s heart leap at the sound of his amusement. 

“Well, no matter how you got inside, I’m glad you’re here,” Kylo said and Rey could feel heat rushing to her cheeks.

Rey was about to stare shyly at her feet when she was interrupted by staring into his eyes. It was then that she noticed just _how_ soft they had become and how close they suddenly were and how his lips parted. She noticed that her heart was beating rapidly in her chest and that she was extremely nervous. And she wanted to say _something_ , _anything_ to keep him talking to her in fear that he might turn away from her and stop looking at her the way he was doing right then and there.

But before she could muster something out, she felt something hard bump against her lower-calf and when she turned her gaze upon what had hit her, she felt her jaw drop.

An orange and white BB-unit was rolling around her and craving her attention, beeping frantically to get what he wanted.

Rey had never been close to a droid like this, she had only seen droids like this one being sold at Jabba’s for parts and she was curious about it.

As she bent down to take a better look at the droid, she politely introduced herself with a grin, “Hello, I’m Rey. And who might you be?”

She received several beeps telling her that the droid in front of her was called BB-8 and that he was happy to meet her.

“I am glad to meet you too, BB-8,” she said and her eyes wandered to the bent antenna on BB-8’s dome-shaped head with a frown. “Well BB-8, it seems like your antenna is bent,” she told him and reached out to straighten it, receiving chirps and beeps of happiness from the droid.

Rey chuckled. “Well, tell your master to take better care of you. Droids shouldn’t be rolling around with bent antennas.”

BB-8 replied angrily that his owner treated him just fine, but the prince should be more considerate of the droids keeping him company.

“Then let the prince know that your friend Rey will have to take it up with him if you ever have your antenna bent again,” Rey let the droid know. BB-8 then turned his head towards Kylo and asked if he heard what Rey had said.

Kylo quickly nodded. “I’ll let the prince know.”

Both Rey and Kylo then fell silent again as they watched the orange and white droid roll away satisfied with himself until he was out of sight.

Rey then got back up and glanced nervously at Kylo, contemplating how to strike up a conversation with him because she had come all this way to see him again.

So she blurted out the first thing she could think of, “Why do you have one?”

Kylo stared at her in confusion and asked startled, “What?”

“Sorry,” she chuckled embarrassedly and stared at her shoes. “I meant to ask why you have a lightsaber. I’ve never seen one before.”

“Oh,” he cracked a genuine smile and stared down at the weapon she had returned to him, running his hand along the hilt as if he were contemplating his answer. “I have one because I am strong with the Force and because my mother wanted me to train to become a Jedi to protect my… _prince_ ,” he told her.

Rey gleamed up at him like a curious little child as she heard what she had thought had just been stories when she was growing up.

_Jedi really existed_.

“I thought the Jedi were extinct,” Rey told him as she remembered the stories she had heard on the streets of brave knights with glowing swords protecting the galaxy from darkness. But because Rey had lived in the poorest of circumstances and no Jedi Knight had come to save her from the harm and darkness surrounding her, Rey had believed that the Jedi were extinct. Extinct or just old legends. 

Kylo stared at Rey with a somber expression before explaining, “There are only a few left. Not many survived the last war when Palpatine and his army of clones slaughtered the Jedi so the world could live in darkness. But the queen and her brother managed to end him before he could destroy more lives.” He turned away from her and Rey could tell that there was more to the story, that Kylo probably lost someone in the war and she felt his pain as if it were her own.

She wanted to cheer him up, to make him think of something else. She wanted him to be happy.

“Would you like to show me some of your training?” she suddenly asked and he turned to face her again with a smile upon his lips.

“I’d love to.”

Rey didn’t exactly know what to expect, but she thought Kylo would maybe show her how he could make things float.

She didn’t, however, expect him to hand her his lightsaber to wield.

And Rey most _definitely_ did not expect Kylo Ren to stand behind her and wrap his hands around her own to guide her.

She tried her best not to blush at the sensation running through her body at his touch or at the thought that her back was against his hard chest.

“A lightsaber is a Jedi’s weapon,” Kylo began to explain unbothered as he placed his thumb above hers to ignite the saber in their hands. It hummed loudly against Rey’s palms and the blue fluorescent hue gave her a sense of strength and something else.

She had the strange feeling that she was meant to wield a weapon of this sort.

“And a lightsaber should be treated as such. This weapon should only be used in _dire_ need, as in defense, but never to act in violence or frustration,” he continued but stopped abruptly when Rey gasped as his warm breath caressed the shell of her ear.

This caused Kylo to let go of her and take a couple of steps back and Rey realized that she missed the sturdiness and warmth of his body but she tried not to let it show as she straightened her back and stared at him for further instructions, eager to learn more of a weapon as ancient as the Jedi themselves.

Kylo cleared his throat as he tore his gaze from her holding his saber and then suggested, “You could practice on one of the training droids, if you like.”

Rey grinned and nodded her head excitedly, wanting to feed the feeling inside her that told her she was supposed to be doing this while earning a small smile from her new friend as he made his way over to one of the droids and turned it on.

“The goal is to defend yourself from the droid’s attack,” Kylo reminded her as he took a couple of strides to the side to watch her defend herself with his saber.

Rey smiled smugly. Defending herself should be a piece of cake. She _had_ been doing that all her life anyways, so what could a _training droid_ do to her that no one else had already tried to do?

As the training droid finished booting up, its eyes immediately lit up and focused on her and before Rey knew it, it started firing hot blasts her way.

She was able to dodge a few blasts the droid was sending her way, but she had not quite gotten a hold of _blocking_ them.

Not until one of the blasts hit her causing her to cry out in pain at the impact of the hot blast scorching her right upper arm. Rey began to grit her teeth in frustration and she was tired of losing against the droid. She wanted the upper hand in this battle, she wanted to show Kylo that she was strong and that she could defend herself easily. And now, she really wanted that droid to stop firing at her.

Kylo gazed worriedly at Rey and she could sense something feral in his gaze almost as if he had the need to destroy the droid himself. But Rey was not going to let that happen, even when he started making his way back to the battle droid to turn it off.

“ _Don’t_ ,” Rey hissed as she straightened her posture and faced her enemy. Kylo paused and glanced back at her. “I can handle it,” she told him more sincerely and he then resumed his position from before.

Rey then took a deep breath and closed her eyes, channeling the feeling inside her, channeling her _instinct_ before opening them again and concentrating on her target.

She let her feeling guide her and began to deflect the blows easily while also spinning the saber in her hand doing so. Rey was having fun now as she managed to deflect every one of the droid’s shots and was able to get closer to her target.

And the whole time while she was defending herself, Rey could feel Kylo’s gaze on her. And Rey was curious how he would react, if he would have thought that a simple scavenger could learn so easily. So as she kept on swinging his saber around, she managed to take a quick peek at him and noticed that Kylo was staring at her with a look of awe on his face.

Rey bit her lip, pleased with his reaction before giving the droid her final blow. She twisted the lightsaber so that she could slice at the droid horizontally before it fell to the ground with a satisfying thud.

“How did I do?” Rey asked panting as she turned around to face Kylo Ren. His lips were parted and his eyes kept on wandering from the target on the floor to Rey causing her to grin.

“You did,” he began and paused to search for the right word, “ _extremely well_.” Rey flashed him an embarrassed smile and brushed loose strands of hair behind her ear at his praise. She hadn’t expected that he would think she was _that good_.

“Are you sure you have never wielded a lightsaber before?” he asked her carefully and stepped closer as she turned the saber off. There was something curious in his gaze now.

“No, I haven’t. Why?” Rey answered following his eyes as they wandered from his lightsaber in her hand to her face and then he held her gaze for a while before he continued to speak.

“How did you know to fight like that? Which way to swing the saber to deflect the blows?” Kylo’s eyes were bright with curiosity now and Rey wished she could give him the answers he was looking for, but she couldn’t.

She couldn’t because she didn’t quite know herself.

“I…” she began but paused with a sigh. Rey had never explained to anyone why she knew what to do and why she never got caught. She had always thought that people might think she was crazy. But by the way Kylo was staring at her and awaiting her answer as if he were hanging on every word she would speak, she felt like she could trust him with her secret. She felt that she could trust him because that was what her _feeling_ was telling her.

“I have this… this _feeling_ inside me that guides me,” Rey uttered never breaking away from his gaze. “It’s always been there to help me survive when I was all alone and now I feel it hum inside me more vibrant than it ever has. It’s like it’s… _awake_.”

“A feeling…” Kylo muttered softly and his eyes shone bright and eager as he gazed at her. And Rey glanced back at him wanting to drown in his eyes when all of a sudden, she felt a shift inside her. And not just inside her but inside _him_.

Rey no longer only felt her own energy, but the energy that was inside Kylo and for some reason it felt like their souls were somehow combined, locked in an eternal dance.

And she felt like someone knocked the air out of her lungs.

Rey had never felt something like this before and she was afraid. Afraid of what this meant, afraid that whatever was going to lay in her path would be something she couldn’t handle. She was afraid that whatever this was, would cause her pain.

But then something even _stranger_ happened.

Because then Kylo whispered, “Don’t be afraid, I feel it too.” And Rey understood. They were connected in some kind of way, in a way she could not yet understand. But she knew that he could feel her just like she could feel him. And that may have taken some of that fear away.

“What does it mean?” she asked him in a hushed tone and for some reason, everything around them fell silent. It was just them now. It felt very _intimate_.

“I’m not sure,” Kylo admitted and Rey’s heart sank a little. “But I am sure of one thing and that is that you are strong with the Force. I can feel it run through you, Rey. You said that that _feeling_ has always been with you and that it has always guided you. That _feeling_ is the Force and the Force has always guided you to safety.”

It had made so much sense to Rey. The Force has always been there for her and she had always called upon the Force when she needed it which is why she had found it easier to scavenge for food and know when she had to escape from danger. She _knew_ because the Force had been _helping her_.

“It has also guided me to you,” Rey uttered to Kylo and she could feel his heart rate increase as if it were her own heart beating.

“Rey…” Kylo whispered and let his gaze wander to her parted lips and back to her eyes. He was taking every inch of her face in and she didn’t mind at all because the way he was looking at her made her feel like she was more than just a scavenger or a young woman who had to steal or starve.

Kylo looked at her like she was _so much more_.

His eyes settled on her lips and suddenly he slowly inched his face closer to hers. And Rey was about to catch her breath and shut her eyes when she heard a man’s voice call out, “ _Ben?_ Are you done meditating?”

Kylo flinched visibly at the mention of the prince’s name and that was when the realization hit Rey as she felt a feeling of guilt swirl inside him.

Rey immediately took a step back and gazed at him in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that she had snuck into the palace to see the Prince of Chandrila himself. And even worse, she couldn’t believe that she had thought about _kissing_ the prince. Her, a _scavenger_ kiss _the prince_.

Rey was utterly embarrassed.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized and curtsied as quickly as she could. “I didn’t mean to break into your home, Your Highness.” She handed him his lightsaber back and turned around without meeting his eye.

“Please don’t apologize,” Prince Ben told her and was following her with long strides as she made her way back to the tree she had climbed to see him in the first place.

“No, no, I _should_ apologize,” she insisted. “I should have known and treated you with more respect. But that doesn’t matter now because I will be heading back home. It was nice to meet you, Your Highness,” Rey rambled and was preparing herself to climb up the tree when she felt his hand wrap around her wrist, stopping her and causing her to take a chance and look at the prince again.

Prince Ben’s eyes were pleading with her. “Rey, _please_ don’t apologize. I…” he paused to sigh heavily and continued, “You were the first person who treated me like an actual _person_ and not just an object that should never be touched or looked at. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. So please Rey, don’t apologize and don’t treat me like everyone else does.”

Rey glanced at the hand that was softly wrapped around her wrist and back at Prince Ben and his desperate brown eyes.

“Ok, Prince…”

“ _Ben_. Please just call me Ben,” he corrected her and she couldn’t help but smile.

“Ok, _Ben_. Your title is meaningless to me,” she reassured him and earned a genuine smile from Ben.

He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the man calling for him again.

“I should leave,” Rey suggested. “I don’t think whoever is looking for you will be thrilled to see me here.”

“I don’t think he will,” Ben agreed. “And neither will my mother.”

Rey smiled at him and felt her heart ache. This would be the last time she would see Ben and she desperately wished that that wasn’t the case.

She wished she could see him more often. But rules are rules, and for a prince, rules should not be broken.

Or, at least no one needed to know that they were being broken.

“Would you like to stop by tomorrow?” Ben blurted out as Rey made her way up the tree. She glanced over her shoulder to look at him and in the dim lighting of the courtyard she could see that his cheeks were flushed.

And she hoped that he couldn’t see her own glow red with heat. “I could show you how to use the Force, how you can learn to control it.”

“I would love to come back tomorrow,” she told him and heard him exhale.

“I could sneak out of my room close to midnight. Most of the people should be asleep by then,” he said excitedly and watched her settle herself on a branch.

“I’ll be there,” Rey said and grinned back at him with her heart hammering inside her ribcage.

“Ok,” Ben uttered. “Goodnight Rey.”

“Goodnight Ben,” she told him before heading back home.

And if she would have turned back around before leaving she would have seen Prince Ben smile like he hadn’t in a long time.

As soon as Rey’s feet landed on the ground behind the palace wall, she felt herself relax. She was now in safe territory and could head back home without being afraid that she might slip up and get caught. Even though that never happened, but when one breaks into the palace to see the prince, one can never be too sure to tread in safe waters until one is _outside_ of the palace.

But Rey could not quite think about if she was safe or not. All she could think about was that she would see Ben Solo again the next evening, that he had asked _her_ to come by again and that he wanted to show her the ways of the Force.

And she was excited.

She was _so excited_ that she did not hear the silent footsteps following her nor could she feel the presence behind her.

Though, she could not feel a presence _at all_.

And before Rey could realize that she was in danger, a sudden power took over her body and forced her into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited chapter had arrived! Rey and Ben meet again! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter very much!   
> I reeeeaally loved writing this chapter and can't wait to share more chapters again soon!
> 
> Thank you so much for your comments and kudos! They are very much appreciated. <3
> 
> You can also find me on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rainyplumsy/) and [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fake-laughter-and-fake-friends)!


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